Understanding Philanthropic Travel

Read more about: Africa, community, conservation, culture, humanitarian, peace, poverty, preservation, safari, United Nations, wildlife, youth

“Philanthropic Travel is the ultimate luxury and a WIN-WIN-WIN formula on many, many levels.” -David Chamberlain CEO Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide

WINNER #1 Destination Communities

Destination communities win when philanthropic travelers arrive with open hearts and philanthropic intent. The economic generosity of those travelers allows communities to move past the daily march for survival by gifting education, medical facilities, clean water and entrepreneurial training. Philanthropic Travelers create a chain reaction of ‘pay it forward,’ goodwill that unlocks powerful community development and gratitude.

“What David is doing is wonderful because it combines the best of everything,” says Chellie Kew, founder of Qfund, a non-profit organization whose grassroots endeavors in Africa are sometimes observed by Exquisite Safaris travelers. “You get the world-class accommodations, the top-notch activities, and then end up at a project that is life-changing.” -Chellie Kew Q Fund Humanitarian NGO

“There’s something in all of us that hungers after the good and true, and when we glimpse it in people, we applaud them for it. Through them we let the world’s pain into our hearts, and we find compassion. When things go wrong or have been terribly wrong for some time, their inspiration reminds us of the tenderness for life that we can all feel.” -Bishop Desmund Tutu

WINNER #2 Philanthropic Travelers

Acting as committed and awakened ‘resource catalysts,’ rather than ‘day laborers,’ Philanthropic Travelers who donate to our NGO humanitarian partners are participating in the inspiration, education and empowerment of communities -better able to sustain themselves creating new local opportunities for upward mobility.

“Visiting the Matare neighborhood outside Nairobi was a powerful experience for our family. What we encountered grabbed our hearts. Living there does not make for an easy life, and it is so much different from what we know. And yet we found our hearts warmed from this unforgettable experience. Franklin opened the community up to us in ways we would have never been able to see ourselves. We enjoyed a chance to hear people’s stories, to learn about their hopes and dreams, and to enjoy playing sports with local youth. Franklin’s outreach is powerful, and since our visit we now feel like we can help him make a difference through our growing friendship. Our lives will never be the same and we look forward to visiting again.” -Amber Dowd, Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Traveler

WINNER #3 Environment, Indigenous Culture and Wildlife

Once communities are empowered, they have the ‘personal bandwidth,’ to participate in the preservation of their environment, their cultural uniqueness and the wildlife that makes their neighborhoods so attractive to philanthropic travelers.

“Ultimately conservation is about people. If you don’t have sustainable development around these (wildlife) parks, then people will have no interest in them, and the parks will not survive.” -Nelson Mandela

Philanthropic Travel as a catalyst for a Peaceful, Prosperous, and Friendly World. Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide has been working hard to show meaningful benefits to conservation and communities.

“The ‘Enlightened Luxury’ experience of Exquisite Safaris Philanthropic Travel Worldwide revolves around a sophisticated high-end traveler who demands and requires a world class level of service and wants to play a leading role by traveling with philanthropic intent.

Our clients report that being the guest of a grassroots humanitarian outreach project for a morning or afternoon somewhere along their itinerary has profoundly expanded their understanding of the world. It has awakened powerful emotions, enlightened ideas, and concrete plans about how they intend to re-invent their future while leveraging their “quality time remaining.” -David Chamberlain

UNESCO on Tourism

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) states that if responsible practices are in place, Tourism is the natural interlocutor between the wealth and desires of the global traveler and the socio-economic needs of some of the world’s most remote, but heritage-rich communities, natural and cultural sites. It’s vital to manage, through collaboration, the impact of tourism and the low-volume, high yield operators particularly in the luxury tier are in a unique position to deliver service and stability to world heritage. UNESCO sees responsible travel as a delicate balancing act. Tourism involves a series of trade-offs but, within an agreed framework of goals and limits and a climate of educational, respectful relationships, we have one of our most powerful tools for poverty reduction.

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